1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a system and method for promoting utilization of intelligent information, obtained from medical images.
2. Description of the Related Art
Accompanying technical advancements in medical imaging apparatuses, it has become comparatively easy to obtain image data (volume data) that represent the anatomical structures of humans three dimensionally. Conventionally, volume data had been obtained by obtaining a plurality of tomographic images (two dimensional image data) with an imaging apparatus, then reconstructing the tomographic images with an image processing apparatus. Recently, imaging apparatuses which are capable of directly outputting volume data are becoming mainstream. Particularly, the time required to perform CT (Computed Tomography) examinations has been greatly reduced, due to the use of multiple detectors and the introduction of high speed imaging methods, and the number of CT examinations which are performed daily is increasing.
However, processes for analyzing volume data requires long amounts of time, because they include more data than two dimensional data. For this reason, the number of cases that can be analyzed daily is decreasing. That is, presently, analysis cannot keep up with the increased number of examinations.
In order to ameliorate these circumstances, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20070237380 proposes providing a preliminary processing apparatus separately from an apparatus employed in diagnostic observation of medical images. The preliminary processing apparatus determines the purpose of examination and the imaged region, by utilizing instruction data from a system that instructed examination. Then, the preliminary processing apparatus administers image processes onto image data obtained by the examination, based on the determined information. At this time, various image processing parameters which have been extracted or determined during the image processing step are saved in a database. This method enables physicians to administer image processes onto the image data obtained by the examination, using the parameters which are saved in the database, to shorten the amount of time required to analyze the image data.
In conventional hospitals, people who utilized examination results were limited to physicians who ordered examinations. Accordingly, the method of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20070237380 that executes preliminary processes according to the purposes of examination and instructions ordered by individual physicians is effective in improving processing efficiency.
However, if data processing systems that enable data sharing within hospitals are built, it is expected that opportunities for data obtained with a specific purpose to be utilized for a different purpose will increase. For example, abdominal CT data obtained by an examination performed in the internal medicine department of a hospital may be employed by a surgeon for a laparotomy simulation. As another example, abdominal CT data obtained by an examination of the stomach in the internal medicine department may be employed in fat distribution evaluation (to prevent adult onset lifestyle related diseases). In an environment in which departments of hospitals and physicians share data, it is cot favorable for preliminary processes to be administered onto data according to the purposes of examination. This is because in the case that the data are employed for a different purpose, a long amount of time will be required to perform adjustments, which will result in a deterioration in processing efficiency.